ON THIS DAY: CELEBRATED HYMN WRITER ALBERT MIDLANE WAS BORN IN NEWPORT 200 YEARS AGO

Albert Midlane – one of the greatest hymn writers of the 19th century – was born in Newport on 23rd January 1825.

The Isle of Wight lyricist was believed to have written around 1,100 hymns – he never kept count. He was said to have composed as many as 400 in a single year for publication in America.

Albert’s most famous hymn was There’s a Friend for Little Children – penned on 7th February 1859 – said to have been translated into over 50 languages and to have found its way into over 200 hymn books.

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H. Pickering – a biographer of Midlane – claimed:

“There’s a Friend for Little Children is sung in China, Japan, India, all over Europe, America, Australasia and in most unlikely parts of the world and giving the promise of continuing to be sung ‘while the earth remaineth’.”

Composing There’s a Friend for Little Children was said to have taken considerable physical toll on Albert.

According to author of Songs of Pilgrimage and Glory, E. E. Cornwall:

“After a day’s strenuous work in his shop, Mr Midlane sat by himself, his family having retired to rest, and endeavoured to write down the hymn with which his mind had been too busily occupied in the midst of his work.

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“He managed to complete the task, but the effort over-taxed his strength; for when his wife, alarmed at his prolonged absence came downstairs, she found her husband unconscious, with his head resting on the finished hymn.

“Restoratives were quickly applied and consciousness soon returned; but that was the end of Mr Midlane’s nocturnal hymn-writing!”

The Jubilee of the composition of There’s a Friend for Little Children was celebrated in 1909 – shortly before Albert’s death. 3,000 children gathered to sing the hymn in St Pauls’s Cathedral. On the Isle of Wight the very same day, Sunday School children of all Christian denominations gathered in St James’ Square in Newport to sing the song in Mr Midlane’s presence.

Albert Midlane’s hymns received the royal seal of approval. Queen Victoria accepted several volumes of his compositions, and her husband Prince Albert purchased a number of copies as gifts for his friends. Lord Tennyson – who lived in Freshwater – was also said to have been an admirer of Midlane and gave him great encouragement.

Albert was born to a large family, 3 months after the death of his father. His mother was a member of Newport Congregational Church (today, the Man in the Moon Weatherspoons). The pastor of the Congregational Church, Rev. Thomas Binney, was author of another famous hymn: Eternal Light! Eternal Light!

Mr Midlane began work as a printer before becoming an ironmonger’s assistant then an ironmonger of his own account. His shop was located at the corner of St James’ Street and South Street (opposite McDonald’s).

The Newport hymn writer was baptized at Castlehold Baptist Church and worshipped at the Gospel Hall in Union Street. He lived at Forest Villa on St John’s Road. He married Miriam Grainger in 1851, the union producing 2 sons and 1 daughter.

Albert wrote his 1st hymn – God Bless our Sunday School – aged just 17. His last was written on his 84th birthday. His Gospel Hall Hymn Book – containing 278 of his compositions – was compiled when he was 80 years old.

Mr Midlane gained much inspiration from Carisbrooke Castle, composing his hymns:

“during walks around the ancient and historic ruins of Carisbrook Castle, in the twilight hour so dear to thought.”

As well as writing a prodigious number of hymns, Albert was the author of a history of Carisbrooke Castle and The Story of Princess Elizabeth.

Unlike the vast majority of authors, Albert never took out a copyright on any of his compositions and never made a penny from them. Sadly, in later life, he went bankrupt for £500 through becoming a guarantor of a friend. However, once his misfortune became known to the public, generous admirers contributed sufficient funds for the bankruptcy to be annulled and the veteran hymn-writer to be provided with an annuity.

On 23rd January 1909, the following verse of Albert Midlane was published to mark the hymn writer’s 84th birthday:

“What is the world to one whose hopes
Are fixed beyond the skies ?
What can impede the charioteer
Just near to grasp the prize ?

Enough! One’s cup is brimming full.
All earthly struggles o’er;
Beneath the shadow of His wings,
In bliss for evermore.”

On 11th February 1909, Albert Midlane was stricken with an apoplectic seizure, from which he never recovered. He died on 27th February of that year.

Albert Midlane rests in Carisbrooke Cemetery. His famous hymn There’s a Friend for Little Children, sung by children, concluded his funeral service.

Pathos was added to the scene by the internment of a young child some 20 yards away.